Automatic railroad-crossing gate.



L. E. & H. 1. RICHENDRFEH. l AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING GAII.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, I9IG.

Iatented Sept. 24, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHUT l.

L. E. & H. J. RICHENDRFER. AuToMATlC RAILROAD CROSSING GATE.

Patented $61.524, 1918 6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, 1916.

/Qlfgmf J f L. E. 6L H. I. RICHENDRFER.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING GATE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, l9l6. LQVQI@ Y Patented sept. 24,1918;

GSHEETS-SHEET 3.

L. E. H. l. RICHENDRFER.

AuIoIIIAIIc RAILROAD cRossIIIG GATE..

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27. 1916,.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

llll

` www@ u" q wv; @Hoxncq Patented Sept. 24, 1918.

L. E. & H. J. RICHENDRFER.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING GATE.

APPLICATION FILED IIov.21,1sIe.

ww., I Patentedsept. 24, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

L. E. & H. J. RICHENDRFER.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD CROSSING GATE.

APPLICATION FlLED NOV. 27, 1916.

1.279,90. Patented sept. 24,1918.

Ff. I

'- TED sTATEs aTiiNT LLOYD E. RICHENDRFER AND HENRY J. RICHENDRFER, OF LIME RIDGE, PENNSYL- VANIA.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD-CROSSING GATE.

To all Iwhom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, LLOYD E. RIGHEN- DRFER and HENRY J. R1oHENDnFER,-citizens of the United States of America, residing at Lime Ridge, in the county of Columbia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railroad-Crossing Gates, of which the following is aspecification. n

This invention relates to -an automatic railroad crossing gate and has for its object the production of a simple and eiicient gate which will be automatically swung to a closed position when a train approaches the crossing'at a predetermined point.

Another object of this invention is the production of a simple and efficient mea-ns for facilitating the raising of the gate after the same has once been lowered and after the'train has passed over the railroad crossinc.

llVith these and other objects in view, this invention consists of certain novel combinations, constructions and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In -the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a track'showing the railroad crossing gates which are adapted to close the crossing when a train is approaching.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism for operating the gate.

Fig. 3 is a central horizontal section through the casing which contains the mechanism for operating the gate.

Fig. 4 is al view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, showing part in section and part in eleva-- tion.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3. l

Fig. G is a section takenl on line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section through the casing and housing within which the gate mechanism is positioned, the gate being shown in a raised position.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 the gate being shown in a closed o1' lowered position.

Fig. 9' is a detail perspective of the guiding plate for the latching levers which are adapted to release'the gate and permit the same to be lowered.

Fig. l0 is a detail perspective of the releasingl clog which is adapted to engage the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1918.

Application -led November 27, 1916. Serial No. 133,747.

ratchet for controlling the lowering of the gate.

Fig. 1 1 -is a. detail perspective of one end of the link armwhich is adapted to be engaged by the pawl and latching levers.

Fig. 12 is a vertical section through the housing of one of the gates.

Fig. 13 is a detail side elevation of the switch for controlling the lighting of the light 'carried by the gate and the ringing of the bell which is associated therewith. 4

Fig. 14 is a section taken on line 14-14 of F ig; 12.

Fig. 15 is a. section taken on line 15-15 of Fig. 12.

Fig. 16 is a transverse section through the safety platform.

Fig. 17 is a bottom plan view of the safety l platform.

Fig. 18 is la diagrammatic view showing the electric circuits employed inl connection with the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a detail perspective section through the Contact platform positioned upon the railroad crossing.

' By referring to the drawings, it will be seen that for the purpose of simplifying the illustration and description of the device only a single track is shown, although the same mechanism may be used upon a double track without departing from the spirit of the invention.

By particularly considering 1, it will be seen that 1 designates the first block or section of the track'and 2 designates the second block or section of the track, the two sections being insulated from each other by the insulated blocks 3 at a point approximately the center of the railroad crossing.

A housing 4 is positioned upon one side of the track and a second housing 5 is positioned upon the opposite side of the track. A gate G is pivotally supported upon the housing 4and a gate .7 is pivotally supported upon the housing 5. These gates are operated by means of a common operating shaft 8. h"ch extends through the operating housingszas will be hereinafter more 'clearly described. It should be understood that the gates 6 and 7 may be of any suitable construction to accomplish the desired result.

A casing 9 is positioned below the housing 5 and constitutes a .support therefor as will be clearly understood by carefully considering Fig. 2 of the drawings. A primary relay an auxiliary or second relay 1l.. This relay 10 is adapted to actuate an armature 12 .which armature is provided with a forwardly projecting arm 13, this arm 13 engaging an arm 14 carried by the shaft 15. The shaft 15 is supported by means of the brackets 16, Fig. 6. A bracket 18 is supported in front of one of the brackets 16 and carries a rearward extending guiding abutment arm 19 which engages the arm 14 and limits the forward movement thereof. The spring 20 engages this bracket 18 and also the arm 14 and nor- Inally holds the armature 12 away from the relay 10.. The inner end of the shaft 15 carries an arm 2l which arm supports at its upper end the latching link 22. This link 22 is engaged by means of a coil spring 23 which coil spring 23 issecured to a bracket 24 at the lower end thereof. A latching arm or link 22 passes through one of the guiding slots 25 formed on the bracket 26 and is provided with a hooked outer end 27 for engaging one of the apertures 28 shown in Figs. 5 and 11 and permits the link 29 to be pullled rearwardly when the relay 10/is actuated, that is to say, provided the other relay l1 has not already moved the link 29 rearwardly. This link 29 is provided with a head 30 at the rear end thereof within which are formed the slots 28 above mentioned and the sides of the head 3() are provided with vertically extending sides 31 having beveled rear faces 32. The latching link 22 is provided with a laterally extending pin 33 for` working upon the beveled edges 32 of the head 30.

The relay 11 is adapted to actuate the armature 34 which armature 34 carries an arm 35 similar to the arm 13 which engages the arm 36 carried by the shaft 37. This shaft 37 in turn engages a latching link 38 of the 'same construction as the latching link 22.

This latching link 38l coperates with the head 30 in the same manner as that described above with respect to the latching link 22.

The bracket 26 is provided with a plurality of forwardly extending downwardly inclined track bars 39 as clearly illustrated in detail in Fig. 9 and it should be understood that if the relay 10 isl first actuated the latching link 22 will cause this hooked end 27 to engage one of the apertures 28 and pull the link 29 rearwardly thereby releasing the pivoted dog 40 from engagement with the ratchet 41 carried. by the shaft 8. Should, however, the relay 11'be energized after the relay 10 has been energized such as for in stance, should a train be approaching in the adjoining block, this latching link 38 will not be seated in one of the apertures 28 but will merely ride up the inclined ltrack plate 39and perform no function whatever with respect to the pulling of the link 29 rearwardly. This is possible for .which works through a bracket 56.

clined face 32 of the head 30 and cause the.

pin to be in a proper position to ride up the inclined track-wav 39 when the link 38 is pulled rearwardly through the energization of the relay 11. It will, therefore, be seen that should a train first enter block 1 that the relay 10 will be actuated for releasing the dog 40 from engagement with the ratchet 41 and should the train approach in block 2 the pawl 40 will not again be actuated but will remain in this position in which it has been thrown by the energization of the magnet 10, the latching link merely riding idle when the vrelay 11 is energized. This same operation will occur should a train first enter block 2 and then a second train enter block l only theoperation will be reversed.

As the dog 40 is pulled out of engagement with the ratchet 41, the switch 42 will be engagement with the contact 46, which contact 46 is directly connected to the motor 72 by'means. of a wire 47.

The operating shaft 8 carries an arm 48 which in turn engages a link 49 and this4 link 49 engages an arm 5G carried by the supporting shaft 51 mounted within the housing 4. A second arm 52 is carried by the shaft 51 and supports a counter-balancing weight 53. It will, therefore, be seen that as the dog or pawl 40 is withdrawn from the ratchet 41 that the gates 6 and 7 will be brought to a closed position such as shown in Fig. 8.

An arm 54 is also carried by the shaft 5l and engages a depending link or rod 55 This rod 55 carries a shoe 57 which shoe 57 is provided with a projecting lug- 58. This projecting lug' 58. is adapted to be engaged by means of one of the pins 59 carried by the sprocket chain 60, which sprocket chain 60 passes over the sprocket wheels 61. As one of these, pins 59 engages the finger 58,

Ithis rod 55 will be pushed downwardly,

' the casing 9. As the shoe 57 arrives in the position shown in Fig. 7, the switch arm 70 will be thrown out of engagement with the switch 71 and stop the motor 72 for the reason that the motor 72 is connected to this switch 71 by means of a wire 73, Fig. 18. It, of course, should be understood that the sprocket chain 60 is rotated a suiicient distance to bring the pins 59 in a proper position for operating the lug or finger 58 at a proper time. 20

When the gate is brought to a closed position such( as shown in Fig. 8, the rearwardly extending tongue will be released from the pin 64 and the spring 74 will swing the bell .crank lever to the position shown in Fig.

8 and also swing the switch lever 70 to a cont-act position. It, of course, should be understood that a'pin 59 will assist in swinging the tripping lever 67 for facilitating the throwing of the switch 70 to an inoperative position, such as shown in Fig. 7. The sprocket wheel 61 is supported upon a shaft 75 and this shaft 75 engages a gear wheel 76 which meshes with a gear 77 and this gear 77 is carried by a shaft 78 which is provided with a driving gear 79, the driving gear 79 being directly operated from the motor 72. After a train has passed out of block l and has passed the crossing the proper electric circuits will be closed through the medium of the switches 70. and 42 for causing the motor 72 to be actuated and thereby causing the gate to be raised to a vertical position. Since both of the gates 6 and 7 are operated by a common operating shaft 8, these 'gates will operate vin unison.

Attention is now specially directed to Fig. 12 of the drawings, wherein the mechanism carried by the housing 5 is shown in detail. The gate 7 is supported upon a shaft 80 and this shaft'80 supports a segmental gear 81 and this shaft also carries an arm 82 which la link 89 which engages an arm 90 which arm is supported upona block 91 .and is normally held in a retracted position by means cfa lspring 92. This arm 90 is provided `with a forwardly extending lip 93 which is adapted to engage between both of the segmental gears 81 and hold the gate 7 against further swinging movement, should a vehicle or team be upon the platform 94 at therailroad crossing. This relay 85 is actuated by means of an electrical circuit which is closed through the medium of the platform 94. This circuit will be clearly described in the following specification:

The gate 7 carries at its rear end two contact members 95 which are adapted to contact with the contact members 96v carried by the housing 5. One of these contact members 96 is connected to one of the terminals 97 of the switch by means of a wire 98 and the other terminal of the switch 99 is connected to a contact block 100 by means of a wire 101. A switch 102 is adapted to engage the contact pin 100 when the gate is in a closed position, through the medium of the in 4Fig. 12 and indicated by the numeral 104 is preferably placed upon the gate 7 and is electrically connected to the two contact points by means of the wire 105. lt will, therefore, be seen that when the gate is in a horizontal position the contact points 95 will engage the contact points 96v and cause the lam 104 to burn. A suitable-bell or other audible signal 106 is mounted in any convenient place adjacent the gate to permit the same to be sounded when so desired, by being electrically connected to our apparatus in any ordinary manner, to which we make no claim.

The platform 94 as illustrated in Fig. 1 is 110 placed at a point approximately the center I of the railroad crossing so as to cause the s ame to be forced downwardly by the weight of a vehicle passing over the crossing. The

Adet-ail construction of this platform is illustrat-ed in Figs. 16 and 17 and it will be seen that this platform 94 is provided with a depending block 107 which works in the sockets 108; the block 107 and socket 108 keeps the platform in an operative position. The platform is supported upon springs 109 which engage the pins 110 and are seated in the sockets 111. preferably at the four corners of the platform 94. Spring contacts 112 are placed below the platform 94 and these 125 spring contacts are electrically connected to the relay 85. One of the contact portions ofthe spring contact 112 is connected to the relay 85 by means of a wire 113 and the relay 85 is connected to the source of electrical 130 supply by means of a wire 114, Fig. 18, the other portion of the spring contact 112 being also connected to the source of electrical supply by means of a wire 115 through the contact 43, switch 42 and wire 42. It will,

therefore, be seen that through the energiza.

tion of the magnet by means of the depression of the platform 94 the gate will be pre- ,Y back through the wire 118, through the wire 119 to the opposite rail in block A, the circuit of course being closed across the parallel rails in block A through the wheels and axles of the car or traintpassng thereover. The magnets 10 are actuated as described in detail above.

When a train enters block B the magnets 11 will be energized bythe current passing from the battery 100 through the wire 118 to one of the rails in block B through the aXle and wheels of the car, through the wire 120, through the magnets 11, through the wire 121, and back to the battery by means of the wire 117.

The current is furnishedto the motor 72 from the battery 100 through the wire 42, through the switch 42, through the contact 46, wire 47, motor 72, Contact 71, switch 70, wire 122 to the wire 123 back to the batv tery 100.

The bell 106 is actuated when the switch 102 is thrown into contact with the righthand contact 100, thereby causing the current to pass through the battery 100 through the switch 42, contact 43, wire 103, switch 102, the left-hand contact 100, through the wire 124 through the bell 106 and back to the battery by means of the wire 123. Of course, it should be understood that the switch 42 must be first in contact with the contact 43 in order that the bell 106 may be actuated.

lrllhe current is furnished to motor 72 from battery 100', through wire 42', through switch 42, through contact 46 through wire 47 to motor through 72. `Through wire 73 through contact 71 through switch 70 through wire 122 through wire 123 to battery 100.

It should be understood that when there is no train in either block A or B switch 42 is closed and switch 70 is open. But when a train enters block B magnet 11 opens switch 42, and as the gates descend, switch is thrown into contact, but as switch 42 is open there is no current on motor 72, and is not unti-l the train is out of block B, then magnet 11 will be released and close switch 42, thus causing a current on motor 72, and said current is on motor 72 until gates are drawn into vertical position, when switch 70 is opened, thus breaking contact to motor 7 2.

lVhat is claimed is: 1. In combination with a railroad crossing, a pluralityv of gates, of circuit closing means positioned at the railroad crossing, a

relay, a segmental gear carried by one of said gates, and means actuated .by said ielay and engaging said segmental'gear for holding said gate against swinging when ing gate mechanism, a housing, a gate supported thereby, an operating shaft, a ratchet carried by said operating shaft, a dog operated by said ratchetfor normally holding said gate against operation, a link connected to said dog, relays, armatures coperating with said relay, latching links coperating with said armatures and adapted to engage said link for withdrawing said dog from said ratchet, said link provided with a head having a plurality of apertures formed therein, said latching links provided with hooks for engaging said apertures, said head provided with inclined rear edges, and each latching link provided with means for working upon said inclined edges whereby one of said links will be caused to rise as the other link is actuated.

4. In combination with a railroad crossing gate mechanism, a housing, a gate supportedthereby, an operating shaft, a ratchet carried by said operating shaft, a dog operated by said ratchet for normally holding said gateagainst operation, a link connected to saiddog, relays, armatures coperating with said relays, latching links coperating with said armatures .and adapted to engage said link for withdrawing said dog from said ratchet, said link provided with a head having a` plurality of apertures formed therein, said latching links provided with hooks for engaging said apertures, said head provided with inclined rear edges, each latching link provided with means for working upon said inclined edges whereby iat " said gate against operation, a link connected to said dog', relays, armatures coperating with said relays, latching links coperating with said armatures and adapted to engage said link for withdrawing said dog from said ratchet, said link provided with a head having a plurality of apertures formed therein, said latching links provided with hooks for engaging said apertures, said head provided withinclined rear edges, each latching link provided with means for working upon said inclined edges whereby one `of saidf links will'be caused to rise as the other link is actuated, inclined tracks cooperating with said latching link for withdrawing one of said latching links out of engagement with said head as the other latching link is moved rearwardly, a guide bracket provided with notches formed therein, and said latching links passing therefrom.

6. A railroad gate` mechanism comprising a housing, a gate, an operating shaft, a dog adapted to release said operating shaft, a switch connected to said dog and adapted to be simultaneously operated with said .dog when the same is swung, contacts formed adjacent said switch, a motor, means electrically connecting said contacts and motor, a second switch connected to said motor and adapted to cause said motor to operate when said first and second switches are thrown to a contact position.

7. A railroad gate mechanism comprising a housing, a gate, an operating shaft, a dog adapted to release said operating shaft, a switch connected to said dog and adapted to be simultaneously operated `with said dog when the same is swung, contacts formed adjacent said switch, a motor, means electrically connecting said contacts and motor, a second switch connected to said motor and adapted to cause` said motor to operate when said first and second switches are thrown to a contact position, a shaft supporting said gate, a depending rod connected to said shaft and adapted to be moved upwardly and downwardly as said last mentioned shaft is rotated, a shoe carried by said rod, and means operated by said motor and engaging said shoe for forcing said rod downwardly when said motor is operated.

8. A railroad gate mechanism comprising a housing, a gate, an operating shaft, a dog adapted to release said operating shaft, a switch connected to said dog and adapted to be simultaneously operated with said dog when the same is swung, contacts formed adjacent said switch, a motor, means electrically connecting said contacts and motor, a second switch connected to said motor and adapted to cause said motor -to operate when said first and second switches are thrown to a contact position, a shaft supporting said gate, a depending rod connected to said shaft and adapted to be moved upwardly and downwardly as said last mentioned shaft is rotated, a shoe carried by said rod, means operated by said motor and engaging said shoe for forcing said rod downwardly when said motor is operated, and means carried by said shoe for throwing said second switch out of operation when said rod is moved downwardly a pre-determined distance.

9. A railroad crossing mechanism comprising a housing, a gate, a shaft supported upon said gate, a switch, a second switch, a depending rod connected to said shaft, a chain working vertically within said housing, a shoe carried by said rod, a plurality of pins carried by said chain and engaging said shoe for forcing said vshoe downwardly, an electric motor for driving said chain, abell crank lever for operating said second switch, said shoeengaging said bell crank lever for throwing said second switch to an inoperative position when said rod is forced downv wardly, and spring means engaging said bell crank lever for returning the same to its normal position when said shoe is released. therefrom and causing said second switch to be automatically closed.

ln testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

LLOYD E. RICHENDRFER. HENRY J. RICHENDRFER. Witnesses:

RALPH R. JOHN, MARGARET KELLY. 

